SPRINGFIELD – An internal audit conducted by the city of Springfield revealed the Department of Elder Affairs paid for parking for employees with grant monies – a use not allowed by the grants.

Chief Administrative and Finance Officer Timothy Plante told Reminder Publications the results of the internal audit should not affect the city’s ability to win grants in the future.

“I don't think there will be an issue with future grants as long as we demonstrate that proper controls are in place. I will know more when we reconcile the accounts,” he said.

Plante would not say if any disciplinary actions involving any employees have taken place. “The city has thoroughly investigated this matter. This office does not comment on personnel matters,” he said.

Plante explained, “During routine budget monitoring of ongoing expenses, there was an unexplained increase in the cost of parking for the Department of Elder Affairs. Following proper protocol, I notified Internal Audit and asked for review of parking expenditures for the department.” The audit, conducted by Yong Ju Nom, director of Internal Audit, was delivered to Plante in January. The auditor recommended the Department of Elder Affairs stop paying for employee parking; if warranted the city should seek restitution from the employees in question; the department should determine the amount of money charged to the various grants; and should notify the granting agencies of the use of the funds and come to a resolution dealing with the problem."

The auditor reported, “The Department of Elder Affairs (EA) validates parking for its visitors at the Good Life Center. Also, in accordance with EA’s Senior Aide grant agreement, the department pays for its senior aides’ parking. The department had a contract with the Springfield Parking Authority to use a chip validation machine to validate parking for its visitors in 2016. The annual contract value was not to exceed $21,000.”

At the center of the report was the paying of parking for handicapped employees.

The audit continued, “According to [redacted], an EA employee since 2008, the department’s practice of paying for employee parking had been in place for years dating back to when s/he joined the department, and [redacted] promoted EA’s practice of paying for employee parking during their job interview – also promoted to [redacted], an EA employee, during their interview. In their memo dated January 9, 2017, [redacted] disclosed that EA paid for employee parking and that such practice was in place when s/he joined EA. However, according to [redacted], EA did not pay for employee parking when s/he was the Director – which was confirmed by [redacted], an EA employee who used to work at the Good Life Center during [redacted] tenure at EA. [Redacted] recalled that the department used to pay only the parking for its senior aides, but that the practice stopped sometime after 2004 when Charlie Ryan became the city’s Mayor. We noted that there were no parking expenses from FY2004 to FY2006, and that in [redacted] first full year as Director, EA’s parking expenses were approximately $10,500 for FY2007.”

The auditor noted, “According to William Mahoney, director of Human Resources and Labor relations there are neither arrangements with employees at Elder Affairs to have their parking paid for by the city nor laws that mandate the city to pay for handicapped parking spaces.”

The auditor also reported that Helen Caulton Harris, commissioner of the Division of Health and Human Services, who oversees EA, was not aware of the parking issue.

The auditor asserted EA misrepresented their parking procedures to the office of Internal Audit, did not comply with its contract with the Springfield Parking Authority (SPA) and did not reconcile parking bills with the SPA.